Easy to make and they store well for at least a week in the fridge. A delicious, nutritious, satisfying, grab and go breakfast, using leftover cooked quinoa.

Store bought whole-food meal replacement bars usually have too much sugar and fat, and I wanted something more nutritious that would also save me money. My first attempts weren't so great, but I kept working at this until I came up with something that would stay together, bake properly and solidify in the middle and taste great. I am happy to share my result here with you. You can make these using any leftover cooked whole grain. I prefer them being made with quinoa -- but if brown rice is what is sitting left over in my fridge I will use that instead. The important part, is that the cooked grain can NOT BE SOGGY! I get the best results using leftover grain that has been refrigerated overnight so that it is a bit on the dry side, and this is a great use for leftover rice or quinoa! This recipe is only mildly sweet, so if you are prefer really sweet stuff -- you might want to double the amount of maple syrup. Also, Hazelnut extract is not necessary -- just adds a tiny bit more flavor. If this is not something you keep on hand in your pantry, then omit it. And a note about liquid stevia --not all liquid stevia extracts are equivalent -- some of them have nasty after tastes! I get good results using Wisdom brand Sweet Leaf, Stevia Clear. But during the summer when I have a lot of stevia growing in my garden, I use the whole fresh leaves instead. To use the fresh leaves instead of the extract -- blend about one half cup of loosely packed stevia leaves into the almond milk (in a blender) and then proceed from there.

Here is what it looked like when I used rice, and had just stirred in the bean flour and cinnamon...

1) Measure out 1/2 cup of almond milk into a bowl that holds at least 2 cups. Add the 1/4 cup of chia to the milk and stir well for 30 seconds. Add the three extracts and maple syrup and stir again.

2) Mash up two very ripe bananas with a fork and then stir them into milk mixture.

3) Into a large bowl place 3 cups of previously cooked and cooled (preferably overnight!) quinoa or brown rice. Sprinkle it with the 3/4 cups of garbanzo bean flour and powdered cinnamon. Use a big flat wooden paddle to mix the rice very well and break up the clumps so that the flour coats each grain of cooked quinoa or rice. (Like the photo above shows.)

4) Place the walnuts onto a cutting board and use a knife to finely chop the walnuts up. Chop up just enough to fill a half cup measure, and then add them to bowl along with the ground flax seeds and raw pumpkin seeds. Mix all of this very well.

5) Add the banana-milk-chia mixture to the large bowl of quinoa (or rice) and mix it all very well, then spoon it into parchment paper lined 8x8 glass baking dish. (If you don't have parchment paper, rub a tsp or two of oil onto the bottom and sides of the pan instead) and carefully press it down into the pan and smooth over the top like the photo below shows.

6) Place the pan into a preheated, 300 degree oven and bake for about 40 minutes until it feels pretty firm. Remove from oven and slice into 12 squares immediately -- but then let it cool before attempting to remove slices from the pan and it will firm up. Store in the refrigerator. These keep for at least a week, or can be frozen for longer storage too.​

Chopping the walnuts

About to bake in the oven

These bars were made using leftover brown rice. These also make a great treat to stick into a lunch box!